Jim Harris came from humble beginnings in Mississippi, picking cotton and driving trucks to make ends meet, but he was eventually transformed into an Ugandan Giant. As Kamala, Harris competed in the WWF during their glory days and squared off against greats like Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. Harris recently took off the face paint and sat down with us to share some stories.

Where are you originally from and what was your childhood like?
I'm originally from Mississippi, where I reside now, in a little place called Senatobia about 30 miles south of Memphis. I was raised in a place called Cold Water, which is about five miles north of here. Memphis is where we do our shopping and everything, so I'm there just about every day I'm not on the road. We were a real poor family. We were like share croppers, picking cotton, chopping cotton, that's how we survived.

What made you decide to get into wrestling? And more specifically, how did one go about becoming a professional wrestler back in the day?
Growing up, I liked watching wrestling, especially when I moved away from home in 1967 down around Florida. I used to watch guys like Dusty Rhodes, Thunderbold Patterson, Andre the Giant, just to name a few. I never did want to get into wrestling, but I left Florida and I moved to Michigan when I was about 25 years old and I met this wrestler called Bobo Brazil.

I was with a friend of mine and I told him after I couldn't find a job that I should start doing wrestling, but I said it as a joke. He took me to Bobo Brazil's house, but Bobo wasn't home, so he took me to Bobo's friend. That's how I started training. I just wouldn't back out of it after I had said it.

What was your early wrestling career like?
My first match was with a guy named The Great Mephisto, Frankie Cain, and he broke myself, Percy Pringle, who is known today as Paul Bearer and Terry Gordy, Michael Hayes, all of us were broke in together. We started together in Mississippi and we weren't making any money, but we were getting experience. Percy Pringle was my very first manager ever, back in 1978.

What was your character then? What was your persona?
"Sugar Bear" Harris was my first wrestling name and then we changed it to "Ugly Bear" Harris, "Big" Jim Harris, The Mississippi Mauler, I had quite a few names.

How was the Kamala character created?
The Kamala character was created by Jerry Lawler. I kept it hidden for a long time because I like being creative myself, but Jerry Lawler, I give him the credit for it. I was living in London and when I moved back to Memphis, I had all my belongings coming by boat because I had so much - all my wrestling gear and everything. I wasn't looking to go back into wrestling when I came back here because my ankle was broken, it had to heal.

After a while, it was taking so long for my stuff to get here, so I went to Memphis to see a friend of mine, the late Dream Machine, because he could always get a hold of wrestling gear. So I went to see him and that's when I ran up on Lawler and the local promoter, Jerry Jarrett, and they asked me if I'd do a gimmick for them. I said, "Yeah, I'd be glad to, but my ankle is broke." They asked me to leave because they didn't want the fans to see me. I went home, they called me that Wednesday and that's when we put together the Kamala gimmick. I've got to give 99 percent of the credit to Jerry Lawler.

How did you feel about the character early on?
I liked stuff like that. Lawler asked me if I was going to be ashamed to do it, but I'm not ashamed to do stuff like that. I enjoyed it.

You definitely committed to it and we think that's what people responded to.
I still enjoy it. I get in the ring once in a while now and I still enjoy it.

How did you end up in the WWF? How did they discover you?
The Kamala gimmick was so good they were selling out everywhere that I would go. When you are a draw like that, word gets around. I was working with Andre the Giant a lot then and Andre told me that Vince McMahon was interested in me coming to, we all called it "New York," and I told him yeah. But this was Vince McMahon Sr. I never got to meet him though; he died before I came there in 84.

What was it like wrestling for the WWF during its most popular era? What are some of your favorite moments?
Some of my favorite memories would be with the legendary Hulk Hogan, the legendary Andre the Giant, sell out crowds in Madison Square Garden and being on top. For a poor boy from Mississippi, it just was a thrill being on top.

Who were your favorite people to work with?
Hogan was one, not because he was a champion, but because he was a real gentleman and I felt comfortable working with him. Bret Hart, who is a real sweetheart, I loved working with Bret Hart.

Was there anyone you wanted to wrestle against but never got the chance to?
I always wanted to wrestle Ric Flair. I've been around Ric Flair for almost 30 years and I never wrestled against him and I always wanted to have a main event match with him.

What caused you to stop wrestling on a regular basis?
It's kind of sad to say, but after all those years in the business, I didn't make a lot of money, I wasn't paid well when I was in the WWF. Vince knows he didn't pay me what I deserved, after all the main event matches that I was in. I don't know why because we had sold out everywhere. After they had beaten me all over like a drum, not bragging on myself, but I was main event material, they just wouldn't pay me and they would use me. In 1993, they gave me my notice. They didn't have any more use for me. My drawing power was gone because nobody wants to see a loser all the time. They never did say why, but I'm sure that's the reason.

Do you still wrestle? We know you have made a few surprise appearances in the WWE, but how often do you get back into the ring?
I'm booked most weekends in places like New York, Boston, all up in the New England area. I signed a Legend contract with the WWE to make those wrestling figures, so I make appearances with the WWE once in a while.

You recently did an angle on Raw with Umaga, who is in some ways very similar to Kamala. What was it like working with him? What made you agree to be a part of that angle?
It wasn't nothing special. He's a great guy. I've known him since he was about 12 years old. I've been to Samoa - Samoa and I, we get along real good. I know I'm an old man now and I didn't mind doing a favor for him to try to get him over, but I got a lot of emails about that saying that even at my age, I look more vicious and I looked like I was the killer and it just didn't look like he could have beat me.

It was disappointing the way they presented it. It seems like they could have done more with you since the characters are so similar.
I think so too, but my word has no power. I could have refused to take the booking, but I like the guy.

What do you think of wrestling today? In your opinion, how has wrestling changed or evolved since you broke into the business?
Wrestling has changed. I liked the way it was when I was coming up and when I was in my prime because we told stories, we didn't have to do a lot of high flying and all that stuff, getting hurt every night, we didn't have to do any of that. I don't know, but I do believe that wrestling is on its way out because it seems the fans have seen just about everything. There's nothing left.

Do you follow wrestling these days?
I never watch wrestling on television. If I go to some of my friends' houses and they watch it, then I will look at it, but I have no interest at all in watching it.

What do you do these days? Do you have a regular job?
I'm a truck driver. I was a truck driver before I became a wrestler. I've been driving trucks since 1970. When I was in my prime as a wrestler, I quit for about 20 years. After I left the WWE in ‘93, I fell back into the truck.

How often are you recognized in your everyday life?
In my hometown, everybody knows me. I don't get recognized in a lot of airports unless I go to New Orleans or New York or New Jersey.

Tell us something most people don't know about you.
A lot of people don't know that I write songs, I sing and I have a small studio here in my house where I do my own distributing. It's been played on a lot of radios and I've had a lot of radio interviews. My songs have won contests against Randy Savage, Deion Sanders and a lot of others.

We've got one last thing for you here. We are going to do a word association. We'll just throw out a name and tell us the first thing that comes to your mind.

Hi Fans,
I'm happy to say Mr. Harris is my friend. He is such a good man, and full of
stories about the Old Mid-South days!
The people at SLAM! Wrestling beat me to an interview with him, So. I'm glad
they did, now many can read about
my friend James Harris. I'll post my Interviews with Mr. Harris soon. The way
I like, where you can hear him talk!Thanks,
Buddy Huggins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When long-time wrestling fans hear the name Kamala, it often conjures
up images of the wild, untamed savage who terrorized his opponents in and out
of wrestling rings throughout the world.

However, the man behind the makeup couldn't be more different from the
character he portrayed for nearly 20 years.

James Harris, born May 28, 1950 in Senatobia, Mississippi, has kept a
relatively low profile in the wrestling world since his last major run with
World Championship Wrestling in 1995 as part of the Faces of Fear. Since then,
he has worked with independent federations sporadically.

"1993 was the last time I worked with the WWF," Harris told SLAM! Wrestling.
"I came home and went back to doing what I did before I started wrestling, which
was driving trucks. That's when my good friend [Hulk] Hogan gave me a call and
asked if I wanted to come into WCW. I went down for three months, and they didn't
give me a contract or anything, and I wanted to start a deal. That was in 1995.
That was the last time I worked until April 1 at Wrestlemania [in Houston]."

Harris realizes it has been a long time since most fans have seen him
in the ring, and explained his decision to appear in the gimmick battle royal.

Kamala and Kim Chee in 1986.

"I know it was a big span there," he said. "Howard Finkel, one of the agents
for the WWF, called and asked if I was interested. I said 'why not, I'll give
it a try.' It was just for the one-time shot, though."

Interestingly enough, Harris never appeared at a Wrestlemania event during
his three stints with the company. He was to appear at Wrestlemania IX against
Bam Bam Bigelow, but the match was cancelled prior to the show.

"As long as I worked with the WWF, I was never in a Wrestlemania. I don't
know how to describe it. I was glad to be a part of it for once, even though it's
after I'm over the hill," he joked. "I was glad to be a part of it and glad they
thought enough of me to ask me to be a part of it."

DEBUTED IN 1978

Harris' wrestling career began in 1978 when he made his ring debut in Greenwood,
Mississippi. He wrestled throughout the south under a variety of aliases, most
notably as Sugar Bear Harris. In the early stages of his career, he briefly held
the the Tri-State version of NWA United States Tag Team Title with Oki Shikina
in October 1979. Additionally, Harris was set up with his first of many managers,
Percy Pringle, better known today as Paul Bearer. With little experience under
his belt, he decided that in order to further his career he would wrestle in Europe.

"During that time I really didn't have a name and it was hard to get in
anywhere," he explained. "I was in Germany one year, and the English promoter
was there and he was interested in me coming to England the next year."

While wrestling in England in 1981, Harris began developping a new character
-- the Mississippi Mauler. This persona planted the seeds for later things, he
explained.

"I only did that when I was living in London. A lot of people don't know
I was painting my face and stuff like that before I came back to the United States.
I have pictures of that, too. It was painted just a little different from the
way the Kamala image is."

KREATION

Upon returning to the United States, Harris soon found himself looking for
work in the wrestling business once again. As fate would have it, a trip to the
Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis would change the path of his wrestling career forever.

"When I first came to Memphis after I moved back from England, I went to
see a friend of mine about getting some wrestling tights and things from him because
my gear hadn't arrived," he said. "When I walked in, Jerry Lawler and the other
wrestlers saw me, but they didn't remember me. I wrestled there before, but I
had a hat on my head as Sugar Bear Harris. They asked me if I was looking for
a job, and I said no. So they asked, 'do you want to work?' and I said yes, but
my ankle was broken but it was healing real well. He (Lawler) said, 'well, I tell
you what, why don't you give me your phone number and go back home and don't let
the fans see you.' It was a real bad house out there that night, really bad. I
went back home that night, it was a Monday night, and on that Wednesday they called
me to put this Kamala gimmick together. They had live TV in Memphis then, so they
showed I was going to wrestle Lawler, with that broken ankle, that Monday night
and the house was sold out. When they showed that little gimmick of me in the
jungle, it was sold out."

The video promoting Harris' new character was shot in Lawler's backyard.
Billed as Kamala the Ugandan Giant, a former bodyguard of Idi Amin, the character
played into the American public's distrust of the Ugandan dictator.

"They had never seen anything like that before," he said. "I think I was
one of the first to paint my face except Kabuki. They were just amazed by something
like me. They didn't know I was a homeboy from right here in Memphis. I've got
family there, and they didn't even know it. It didn't take them long to figure
out who it was."

The creation of the Kamala character cannot be credited to one person, Harris
explained:

"Jerry Lawler helped," he said. "Who really came up with was myself and
a guy who's no longer in the business, he used to wrestle as the Great Mephisto.
When I was in England, I used to call him and tell him I was going to Africa,
which I did go quite a few times, and he told me to get a gimmick and come back
to the States and make a whole lot of money. So Lawler and I both came up with
Kamala."

After several epic battles with Lawler and briefly holding the Southern
Heavyweight Title, Harris began moving around to several different territories
with his "handler" Friday, originally portrayed by Buddy Wayne.

"I can't remember whose idea it was at the time, but it was because of my
size and they were going with bigger guys at the time," Wayne told SLAM! Wrestling.
"They basically had no use for me and they came up with the idea."

Wayne recalled the impact Kamala had on wrestling fans during the three
years they worked together throughout the South and how he felt about the character.

"At the time, you never saw anything like it. With the video of him coming
out of the jungle, they were ahead of their time back then. At first I thought
it was kind of goofy, I mean, who's going to believe this. He was in character
so well that for some reason you started to believe it. At first I was very apprehensive,
but I needed to keep working"

While in the role of Friday, Wayne had a bit of a scare during one of Harris'
matches with Lawler.

"Lawler threw fire one time and it hit me in the face. He threw it at Kamala,
and he ducked. I had the mask on, but you could feel the flames burning and it
singed my eyebrows."

Wayne, who described Harris as professional, well-liked and a hard worker,
gave his impressions of his traveling partner.

"He was very laid back, very easy-going. Kind of like a country boy," he
said. "That's how he came across to me. He had a good business head."

One of the strangest feuds in wrestling history also occurred during Harris'
time in Memphis. To shake things up, longtime wrestler Stan "Plowboy" Frazier
(later known as the WWF's Uncle Elmer) was put in makeup, called himself Kamala
II and attacked him after a match. The 600-pounder came into the ring and delivered
a crushing legdrop, and in the process, turning Kamala into a babyface for a brief
period.

Harris also began to live his public life as Kamala to keep up the image
of the character to the fans.

"I worked my gimmick," he said. "People never did see me without my gimmick
on. When I walked through the streets every day I wore a long green dress-like
thing. I always had my manager with me and I wouldn't speak English to anybody.
It was a hard gimmick, but it was a good gimmick."

After working in Memphis, Harris began shuffling between territories in
order to keep the gimmick fresh. He seemed to enjoy his time in Mid-South the
most as wrestling was beginning to pick up interest on a national level.

"I went to Bill Watts' territory, that was the best territory I had ever
been in, including the WWF," he said. "I made the most money with Mid-South. I
know that's kind of hard to believe, but that's the way it was."

ANDRE

With his 6'7" frame, it was only a matter of time before Harris would take
on the biggest of them all, Andre the Giant.

"I was working with the Dog, the Junk Yard Dog, and we worked a little gimmick
where I beat him. Bill Watts was a smart promoter. After I beat all the guys,
then they would bring in Andre the Giant."

Harris recalled his matches with Andre, and said there were initially some
problems between the two of them in the ring.

"It just drew," he said. "Everywhere was sold out. Everywhere. My first
match with Andre the Giant was in 1983, and we got into a little fight the first
match. I mean, a real fight! I drove him back into the corner, and I had his lip
bleeding. I nailed him because he called me an S.O.B. And when I did that, he
called me a dumb S.O.B. and I laid into him. People couldn't believe it. The fans
didn't know what was going on."

Despite the brief conflict, the two began to work well together in the ring
throughout the south and Andre invited Harris to New York to work with the World
Wrestling Federation.

"After that, I had no more problems with Andre," said Harris. "He respected
me, and I wrestled him in Mid-South. Then I went on to World Class out of Dallas
with the Von Erichs and he came down and we did the same thing there. He said
to me 'when you finish up, I want you to come to New York.' So Andre was responsible
for me coming to New York. We did real good after that. Andre and I worked really
well together."

THE CHICKEN

Now with manager Fred Blassie, Kamala began to terrorize the WWF's top stars
and ended his feud with Andre in a steel cage match. As the WWF was expanding
its reach to the public, a talk show-styled program called Tuesday Night Titans,
Kamala ate a live chicken on television. In actuality, the animal was not harmed
due to creative video editing. Harris' wide-eyed stare at the camera with feathers
in his beard combined with Vince McMahon's appalled reaction produced one of the
most notable moments in WWF history.

Eddie Creatchman and Kamala.

"We did that in Baltimore because they had a thing called Tuesday Night
Titans," he recalled. "They brought me up, and I didn't know what we were going
to do. They had the chicken there and they told me they wanted to show on TV that
I actually ate the chicken. But we made it look good."

After leaving the burgeoning New York territory, Harris appeared with a
number of promotions throughout North America, including the Quebec-based IWA.
Managed by Eddie 'The Brain' Creatchman, Canadian fans were treated to numerous
appearances by Kamala on television. Harris enjoyed his time in the Montreal area,
and was unaware of his former manager's death.

"I really enjoyed that. I'm sorry to hear about that, too," he said. "I
think I worked with him just the one time, I don't remember who I wrestled against,
but I remember him."

"I used to love coming to Montreal. There's a place there, I can't remember
the name, where I used to get smoked turkey and smoked duck. I used to get the
whole duck. It was nice."

WORKING WITH HULK

However, the WWF would soon come calling again. This time, Harris was to
be groomed for some of the biggest matches of his career against the then-unstoppable
Hulk Hogan. He noted how much he enjoyed working with Hogan, and also how he was
mistreated by the company.

"Hogan's a sweetheart," he said. "I never worked with many world champions,
and he was the only guy that I felt comfortable working with. I could just do
what I wanted. We'd still have good matches, I always wanted to have good matches,
but he was the easiest guy to work with. More comfortable than Andre, even after
he and I had our little run-in. I looked forward to working with him. I didn't
make a lot of money, but the money was always there. Vince just wouldn't pay me.
I almost needed a second job when I worked for Vince."

Hogan often spoke with Harris during their time working together during
one of the biggest feuds of 1986. They had several big matches, including a steel
cage bout at Maple Leaf Gardens.

"He used to call me off to the side and say 'look man, we put those butts
on the seats.' He said 'get your money. Get your money because I'm getting mine,'"
he said. "I went to Vince and had a meeting with him. Vince told me 'if you think
you can get more money somewhere else, then you're welcome to go.' That's why
I left so many times."

It was also during this run that a young wrestler billed as Jack Foley took
on Kamala in a typical squash. Now better known as Mick Foley, he did his first
stretcher job in a match recently shown on the WWF Classics program in Britain.

After the program with Hogan, Harris was shuffled to the side and partnered
with Sika, who were both managed by The Wizard (Curtis Iaukea). A short while
later, Iaukea left and Mr. Fuji took over as manager. During the second run, Steve
Lombardi took on the role as Kimchee, a role he has used ever since whenever necessary.
They briefly feuded with Jim Powers and Paul Roma before Harris left once again.
He noted that enjoyed working with Sika, and considers him a good friend.

"Sika and I were real good friends," he said. "He and his brother Afa and
his other brother took me to the Samoan Islands. Oh man, we had a good time. They
took care of me like a brother. I hear a lot from Afa, but I don't hear that much
from Sika, but he tells me he's doing really good down in Florida."

SLAM! Wrestling recently spoke with Sika, who currently trains young wrestlers,
to get his memories of working with Harris.

"Jim Harris is one of the best business people I've run into," he said.
"We worked very hard for Vince. He's a good man, a good friend."

After working in Texas for World Class and feuding with the Von Erichs,
Harris kept a relatively low profile in the wrestling world until 1992.

"I did a lot of independent shows and went overseas," he said. "It didn't
really take a whole lot for me to live. I never had a house payment and I don't
live a big, extravagant life. I don't live a high life. I'm just an old country
boy and that's about it."

While working for the USWA in the early '90s, Harris feuded with Lawler
and Koko B. Ware and held the promotion's championship on three occasions. It
was also during this time that Harris considered suing for merchandising money
he felt was owed to him by the WWF for items such as action figures using his
image.

"Vince called me himself to come back in 1992," he said. "I know the reason
for it. He never did say it, but it was because I had contacted a lawyer and was
going to sue Vince for merchandising. From 1987, when the first doll was out,
to 1992 when the second doll came out I might have made $30,000 out of all those
years. After I had contacted the lawyer, wanted to see all the sales and proof.
That's when Vince called me up and asked me about coming back to the WWF. After
I went back, my lawyer called me and said 'I see you're back in the WWF, I guess
you want to discontinue' and I said yeah, we might as well."

With the decision to return, Harris was thrust into a feud with the Ultimate
Warrior.

"I really liked the start of it," he recalled. "I had a little run with
the Ultimate Warrior. The Ultimate Warrior had limousines everywhere he went,
and it was paid for by the WWF. Steve Lombardi, myself, and Harvey Whippleman
had to split a rental car and a motel room. That's how bad it was. Even the Ultimate
Warrior told me one time, and I don't know how he knew, he said 'Kamala, I know
you aren't making much money. I just don't see how you can do it. Anytime we're
booked against each other and we're on the same flight, just hop in the limousine
with me. Hell, I don't have to pay for it, the WWF's paying for it. Just jump
in with me.' I take my hat off to him."

After the Warrior's departure from the WWF, Harris began a program with
one of wrestling's then-rising stars, the Undertaker. The response from fans was
often lukewarm, and they fought in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium for
the Summer Slam pay-per-view.

"That was my first big match against the Undertaker," he said. "It was alright.
I had some pretty fair matches with the Undertaker, but we just didn't have matches
like Hogan and I would have. The response wasn't as great."

While the event was successful, Harris believes he was not properly compensated
for his participation.

"Another thing I heard was that it grossed 40-million dollars," he said.
"The Undertaker made half-a-million dollars, I heard. I made $13,000. It was terrible.
I never saw the Undertaker's cheque, and didn't dare ask him how much he made.
One night I was in Nassau Coliseum, Steve Lombardi had went in the dressing room
and Pat (Patterson) had left his briefcase open. Steve was browsing through it
and we saw the paybook. I know what I made, it said 'Kamala, James Harris, $13,000.'
Then I saw 'Undertaker, Summer Slam, a half-million dollars.' It was a big difference,
man. It was terrible"

CASKET MATCH

The feud continued to simmer throughout the fall and culminated at Survivor
Series with the first-ever casket match. Harris was more than apprehensive about
the match.

"I'm afraid of dead people and I'm afraid of caskets," he said. "All of
it was an act, but I'm really afraid of a casket. When we did the casket match,
I was a little leery about going in it, but that was the plan and I went in anyway.
If you notice, during that match I looked at it a lot myself. I didn't like it
at all. But once I got in there, I was so tired and so hot I thought I was going
to pass out. I just stayed as calm as I could and I was alright."

In the weeks following the match, an angle was played out where Kamala
would be mistreated by Kimchee and manager Harvey Whippleman. Eventually, Kamala
would turn on them and align himself with Reverend Slick (Kenneth Johnson) who
would attempt to civilize the once-untamable Ugandan Giant. Kamala's ring mannerisms
changed greatly, and this is especially evident on the commercial videotape
"Invasion of the Bodyslammers" where he appears in a bizarre match with Doink
the Clown, a battle royal and is taught how to bowl. Harris was displeased about
the face turn, but realized he truly had no say in the matter if he wanted to
continue working with the WWF.

"It was all done by Vince," he said. "Vince would call me and ask me what
I'd like to change and what I'd like to do. The only thing you could say is
'yes, I'll do it,' because if you said no, then you're fired anyway. So we didn't
have much of choice. I didn't like it at all, especially when they turned me
babyface," he said. "I didn't like it but I couldn't leave because the little
money I was making, Vince was taking 15 per cent of it out. He told me if I
happened to leave before the contract was up, my money was gone. I don't know
if they did that to anybody else back then or not."

Despite the mistreatment by the WWF, Harris does not have any regrets.

"No, as far as being a part of the biggest organization in the world,
I'm proud to tell people I worked for the WWF," he said. "The only regrets I
have is that I didn't get paid. Most of the guys I worked with throughout my
run with the WWF are all wealthy guys. They're all good guys, they're doing
good. I'm the only one who had to file bankruptcy. I have a home, my home is
paid for, I did pay cash for it but it didn't come through the WWF. It came
through Bill Watts. I ended up having to drive a truck and all that kind of
stuff. I've never been a drunk or a drug user or
have any bad habits, so I didn't throw any money away. I just didn't make any."